The Mega Man franchise has a fanatical fan base and, since Capcom seems intent on leaving one of its most valuable properties to blow in the wind, Inafune and his studio, Comcept, turned to kickstarter to fund Mighty No. 9, a spiritual successor to the classic series.

This image is actually really what angered a lot of people…

The game raised $3.8 million from 67,000 backers and everything seemed to be going well. Its development was going great and Kickstarter backers were pleased with the Mighty No. 9’s progress.

Then, Inafune did the unthinkable and hired a woman who wasn’t completely familiar with the Mega Man franchise as the game’s community manager (gasp!).

Naturally, as people who play video games and spend silly amounts of time on the internet often do, gamers on the interwebs raged out unnecessarily, claiming that Dina Abou Karam, the woman Inafune hired, had a secret feminist agenda and was intent on destroying Mighty No. 9.

There’s absolutely no evidence to back up these insane claims.

Karam was hired after she contributed funds to the project and created fan art that depicted the game’s main character as a woman. On Kickstarter’s forums, Karam posted the following:

Hi, my name’s Dina! Like most of you, I’ve grown up on video games and have an undying passion for this magical medium. I am a Zelda fanatic, a Tim Schafer lover (figuratively speaking), and an unrepentant Final Fantasy 8 hardliner. (No, that’s not a troll!) ;) Also, to clear up any forum confusion: Mega Man X is best Mega Man!

After digging into Karam’s social media history, it was discovered that she admitted to having never played a Mega Man game before in a Tweet.

Now it’s time to cue internet outrage. This angry rant was uploaded by a YouTube personality.

The criticism Karam has received is similar to the sexist abuse Anita Sarkeesian’s popular Tropes vs. Women YouTube videos are always bombarded with. Sarkeesian’s videos are excellent and point out many of the problems video games and the gaming industry in general continue to face.

It’s also important to note that Karam is the game’s community manager and not one of Mighty No. 9’s developers. Even if she had some sort of agenda, which she doesn’t seem to, she would have very little influence on the game’s development. She also hasn’t used any of Mighty No. 9’s official social media accounts to promote her personal views on the project.

You could argue that Karam is unqualified for the position because she’s not very familiar with the Mega Man franchise. What some people don’t realize is working as a community manager, especially for a brand new game like Mighty No. 9, requires much more than just being an huge fan of the game. Also, would this even be an issue for many gamers if she wasn’t a woman?

Women reportedly account for 45 per cent of all people who play video games. For the mathematically challenged, that’s almost half. Would it really that horrible if Mighty No. 9 featured a playable female character? Would this actually fundamentally change what the game is all about?

No. It wouldn’t. So stop complaining and discovering yet another way to make people who play video games look like archaic, sexist, idiots.

Video games are one of the world’s most popular forms of entertainment and reach a much wider, more diverse audience than they ever have before. It’s important the industry continues to recognize this while it evolves and changes. Gaming is no longer a pastime only teenage boys enjoy in the confines of their parents’ basement.

Everyone plays video games now and that’s not going to change any time soon. It’s time the hardcore, often misogynistic, gamer crowd finally realizes this.